Ethiopian Jews threaten mass hunger strike if Israel cuts aliyah funds

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Representatives for thousands of Jews in Ethiopia Jews say they will stage a mass hunger strike if Israel eliminates funding to allow them to join their families in that country.

Hundreds gather at a synagogue in Ethiopia’s capital on Wednesday to express concern that Israel’s proposed budget removes the funding to help them immigrate to reunite with relatives.

Most of the nearly 8,000 Ethiopian Jews in the East African nation are said to have family members already in Israel. Some tell The Associated Press they have been separated for more than a decade.

Activists say Israel’s government in 2015 pledged to bring the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Ethiopians currently are prohibited from holding protests under the country’s latest state of emergency, imposed after the most severe anti-government demonstrations in a quarter-century.

— AP